In recent years, the female population of students in higher education increased twice as fast as that of their male counterparts, outnumbering the male students in these institutions (“The Weaker Sex”). While the degrees earned by graduates in a few disciplines such as biology and ocean science are nearly equal between men and women, an alarming discrepancy presents itself in hard sciences such as physics, engineering and computer science (Szelenyi 350). Rather than garner support from their peers and professors, female students often face harsh judgements and bias, preventing them from furthering their interest in STEM. Meanwhile, preconceived stereotypes about the STEM field as well as the lack of success of female students further discourages
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Guidance counselors advise against rigorous math courses and the clubs that these students join, such as the Robotics club, often treat girls as hindrances, offering them managerial duties rather than allowing them to participate in the engineering (“Why STEM Fields Still Don’t Draw More Women”). Even in clubs not centered around the STEM field, the idea that a female student should pursue certain interests are expressed. For example, Girl Scouts do not provide science based activities for participants, and “badges carry more ‘playful’ and less ‘career oriented’ language” (Sadler, 424). Such cues do not encourage females into pursuing a STEM career, as they do not inspire interest in these disciplines. Unlike the Boy Scouts, where badges are labelled with “Mechanic” or “Astronomer” as opposed to “Car Care” and “Sky Search” (Sadler, 424), the Girl Scout badges do not encourage girls to view these activities as a future career. Instead, “car care” and “sky search” implies a casual pastime. Thus, females tend not to explore STEM-based disciplines when attending high school. Because interest in these disciplines is not encouraged, females tend to overlook careers in these areas throughout high school. As male students are encouraged to pursue their interests and offered more …show more content…
The men threaten the woman's social identity, creating a feeling of uncertainty about their role in the workplace. Various female students describe the erosion in their self confidence, where disrespectful treatment of their ideas and an environment in which they are patronized and sidelined forces even highly skilled and motivated women to question their own capabilities (Walton, 469). In the case study detailed by Logel (2009), women are able to recognize when a man is exhibiting sexist behavior, such as disrespecting a female colleague’s ideas or treating them as a sexual object rather than a contributing team member. This allows women in the field to detect whether “they could be devalued and are at risk of being viewed through the lens of a negative gender stereotype” (Logel, 1100). This caused the female participant to underperform on an engineering test compared to a woman who had interacted with a non-sexist man. These implicit cues further change women’s perception towards various ambiguous events such as “difficulty making friends or receiving critical feedback” (Walton, 469). Because they were treated in a sexist way in the work environment, other events in the workplace become colored with the idea that they are being treated unfairly due to their gender. This maintains the idea that they do not belong, causing “high levels of stress and threat with which students may
Guidance counselors advise against rigorous math courses and the clubs that these students join, such as the Robotics club, often treat girls as hindrances, offering them managerial duties rather than allowing them to participate in the engineering (“Why STEM Fields Still Don’t Draw More Women”). Even in clubs not centered around the STEM field, the idea that a female student should pursue certain interests are expressed. For example, Girl Scouts do not provide science based activities for participants, and “badges carry more ‘playful’ and less ‘career oriented’ language” (Sadler, 424). Such cues do not encourage females into pursuing a STEM career, as they do not inspire interest in these disciplines. Unlike the Boy Scouts, where badges are labelled with “Mechanic” or “Astronomer” as opposed to “Car Care” and “Sky Search” (Sadler, 424), the Girl Scout badges do not encourage girls to view these activities as a future career. Instead, “car care” and “sky search” implies a casual pastime. Thus, females tend not to explore STEM-based disciplines when attending high school. Because interest in these disciplines is not encouraged, females tend to overlook careers in these areas throughout high school. As male students are encouraged to pursue their interests and offered more …show more content…
The men threaten the woman's social identity, creating a feeling of uncertainty about their role in the workplace. Various female students describe the erosion in their self confidence, where disrespectful treatment of their ideas and an environment in which they are patronized and sidelined forces even highly skilled and motivated women to question their own capabilities (Walton, 469). In the case study detailed by Logel (2009), women are able to recognize when a man is exhibiting sexist behavior, such as disrespecting a female colleague’s ideas or treating them as a sexual object rather than a contributing team member. This allows women in the field to detect whether “they could be devalued and are at risk of being viewed through the lens of a negative gender stereotype” (Logel, 1100). This caused the female participant to underperform on an engineering test compared to a woman who had interacted with a non-sexist man. These implicit cues further change women’s perception towards various ambiguous events such as “difficulty making friends or receiving critical feedback” (Walton, 469). Because they were treated in a sexist way in the work environment, other events in the workplace become colored with the idea that they are being treated unfairly due to their gender. This maintains the idea that they do not belong, causing “high levels of stress and threat with which students may